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US advises Carter against any meeting with Hamas

by Lachlan Carmichael Thu Apr 10, 5:19 PM ET

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The US State Department said Thursday it has advised former US president Jimmy Carter against meeting with the radical Palestinian group Hamas's exiled leader Khaled Meshaal if he visits Syria.

The State Department advised Carter in late March not to meet any officials from Hamas during a Middle East tour, as it is a terrorist group opposed to the Palestinian-Israeli peace talks, spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters.

He also confirmed that The Elders, a group of elder statesmen that includes Carter and former UN chief Kofi Annan, had postponed plans for a similar tour after US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice discussed the trip with Annan.

The group posted its decision on its website on Tuesday, the same day McCormack said Rice spoke to Annan. The conversation focused mainly on the political crisis in Kenya where Annan has been mediating, he said.

The State Department will help Carter with arrangements if he visits Syria but "will not participate in the planning or scheduling of any meetings with Hamas figures in Damascus," McCormack said.

"And in fact we have counseled the former president (against) having such a meeting," he said.

The US government brands Hamas a "terrorist" group and believes it is "not in the interests of our policy or in the interests of peace to have such a meeting," McCormack said.

The United States is supporting the moderate Fatah faction headed by Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas in new peace talks with Israel while backing the Jewish state's bid to isolate the radical Islamist Hamas movement.

Israel has sealed off Gaza from all but vital goods since Hamas seized power last June in bloody battles with Fatah, in a bid to halt rocket attacks from the territory and to put pressure on the Hamas-run government.

Carter plans to travel next week to Syria and the region to help the Middle East peace process, but spokeswoman Deanna Congileo told AFP she could not "confirm or deny speculation of any specific meetings that might take place."

News reports say Carter, architect of the 1979 Egypt-Israeli peace treaty and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, plans to meet Meshaal, who lives in Damascus.

"Carter will lead a study mission to Israel, the West Bank, Egypt, Syria, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan April 13-21, 2008 as part of the Carter Center's ongoing effort to support peace, democracy, and human rights in the region," the center said.

The Elders said they had planned a visit Israel, the Palestinian territories, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, and Saudi Arabia in April to listen to "representatives from government, civil society, business and the public."

"The Elders will continue consultations with key leaders in the region and outside with the purpose of developing a comprehensive report, but have decided to postpone their visit," they said on their website.

McCormack said David Welch, assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern Affairs, advised Carter not to meet Hamas in a 30-minute telephone conversation at the end of March while Welch and Rice were in the Middle East.

He indicated the issue came up during a general US policy briefing that State Department officials routinely give former presidents or high-ranking officials at their request when they travel abroad.

"Now, that isn't to say that they are going to agree with us, that they are, in any way, support our policies. But we think as a matter of courtesy it's important that they're informed of where we stand," McCormack said.

With a new book in 2006, "Palestine: Peace, Not Apartheid," Carter infuriated Jewish groups who accused him of racism and anti-Semitism.

US advises Carter against any meeting with Hamas (http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080410/pl_afp/usmideastdiplomacyhamas_080410211935)

Jimmy Carter is still trying to leave a legacy that does not involve his failed Presidency. But he doesn't realize that is all we're remembering of him. Someone needs to take away his passport.

Although I understand he does support the Habitat for Humanity, maybe she should stick with helping others one on one instead of butting into things he is not doing any good for. Except those who hate the US.

Hello DreamWeaver,

Brother Bob, I agree completely. It's very sad that so many current and previous elected representatives of the people are causing such havoc and danger for all of us. Carter and people like him are actually encouraging the terrorists and aiding them in faster recruiting. It's really beyond SAD - IT'S TREASON!

Carter, defying Israel, meets Hamas ex-minister
Tue Apr 15, 2008 1:23pm EDT

By Mohammed Assadi

RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter met an ex-minister in Hamas' government on Tuesday, defying Israeli leaders who shunned the Nobel Peace Prize laureate over his contacts with the Islamist group.

Naser al-Shaer, who served as deputy prime minister in the Hamas-led government that the United States and other Western powers boycotted, was greeted by Carter with a hug and kisses to both cheeks, a member of Carter's delegation said.

"Mr. Carter wanted to listen to the positions of different Palestinian figures. The meeting was very good and he promised to continue such meetings," said Shaer, who was among several Palestinian political figures to meet with the former president.

Carter has angered the Israeli government over plans to meet Hamas' top leader, Khaled Meshaal, in Syria, and for describing Israeli policy in the occupied Palestinian territories as "a system of apartheid" in a 2006 book.

Carter, who brokered Israel's first peace treaty with an Arab neighbor, Egypt, signed in 1979, met Israel's ceremonial president Shimon Peres on Sunday but was shunned by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and other policymakers.

Shaer told Reuters he met one-on-one with Carter and they discussed efforts to broker an unofficial truce between Israel and Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip.

Hamas seized the coastal territory by force in June after routing Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' more secular Fatah faction. Abbas then sacked a Hamas-led unity government and appointed a Western-backed administration in the West Bank. Abbas's authority has been limited to the occupied West Bank.

Shaer said Carter told him he wanted to play a role in trying to end the enmity between Hamas and Fatah.

GAZA DENIED

Carter told reporters earlier he had wanted to visit Gaza, but his request was rejected. Carter did not say who turned down his request, but a member of his delegation said it was Israel.

"I haven't been able to get permission to go into Gaza. I would like to. I asked for permission. But I was turned down. But maybe we can find a way to circumvent that," Carter said.

All of the border crossings between Israel and Gaza are controlled by the Jewish state. Egyptian forces are stationed at Gaza's southern border, which is largely closed.

Carter said he would use his meeting with Meshaal to "get him to agree to a peaceful resolution of differences, both with the Israelis ... and also with Fatah".

"Since Syria and Hamas will have to be involved in the final peace agreement, they ought to be involved in the discussions leading up to ... peace," Carter said.

Carter, who stressed he was not acting as a negotiator or a mediator, said he hoped "just as a communicator" to relay to "leaders of the United States" what Hamas and Syria have to say.

Israel and Washington have sought to isolate Hamas and bolster Abbas, who launched U.S.-backed peace talks with Olmert.

Like Israel, the Bush administration opposes Carter's meeting with Meshaal, whose Islamist group won Palestinian parliamentary elections in 2006 but was boycotted by the West for refusing to renounce violence and recognize Israel.

During his visit to Ramallah, Carter placed a wreath at the mausoleum of the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

U.S. President George W. Bush pointedly chose not to do so during his recent visit. The Bush administration shunned Arafat, who died in 2004, accusing him of fomenting violence.

Carter, defying Israel, meets Hamas ex-minister (http://www.reuters.com/articlePrint?articleId=USL1464259420080415)

Carter initiated
Hamas meeting
Ex-president requested time
with 2 most senior terrorists

It was Jimmy Carter, not Hamas, who first requested a meeting scheduled for today with the terrorist group's two most senior leaders in the Gaza Strip, Hamas' spokesman in Gaza, Fawzi Barhoum, told WND.

"Carter was the one who asked Hamas for the meeting. It was arranged yesterday in his meeting with [Hamas official in the West Bank city of Ramallah Nasser] Shaer," said Barhoum, speaking from Gaza.

Carter also is scheduled to meet in Cairo with senior Hamas leaders Mahmoud al-Zahar and Saeed Seyam, who are identified by both Israeli and Palestinian security officials as the two most senior leaders of Hamas' so-called military wing, which carries out terrorist activities from the Gaza Strip, including rocket strikes, suicide bombings, border raids, kidnappings and shooting attacks.

Al-Zahar, the chief of Hamas in Gaza, is leader of Hamas' most radical wing and is widely regarded as chief of the terror group's "military wing." He served as the foreign minister in the Hamas-led Palestinian government, which was disbanded last year. Israeli officials say al-Zahar is more radical than Khaled Meshaal, Hamas' overall chief, who resides in Syria and is scheduled to meet with Carter later this week.

At a rally in March last year, al-Zahar told a crowd of thousands that Hamas' short-term goal is "to liberate Palestine. Our final goal, which will be achieved, is that Islam will enter every house and will spread all over the world."

Seyam, who served as Hamas' interior minister, oversees Hamas' so-called Executive Force, the group's main militia. Seyam was one of the main architects of Hamas' takeover of the Gaza Strip last June, when the terror group expelled the U.S.-backed Fatah organization, overtaking all Fatah security compounds and reportedly seizing American weapons.

Carter is due to meet al-Zahar and Seyam today after Israel turned down his request to enter the Gaza Strip, where the two senior Hamas leaders live.

Al-Zahar and Seyam departed the Gaza Strip and are driving toward Cairo, Hamas sources confirmed.

Barhoum told WND Hamas sees Carter's visit as "very important."

"It will help break the siege against us and help Hamas be accepted by the political leadership and public opinion in the U.S," he said.

Yesterday, while visiting the West Bank, Carter attended a reception with the senior Hamas leader Shaer. The reception was closed to the media, but according to participants and the Hamas leader, Carter hugged Shaer and kissed him on each cheek, the customary greeting for good friends. Many U.S. diplomats refrain from kissing Palestinian officials.

"He gave me a hug. We hugged each other, and it was a warm reception," Shaer told the Associated Press. "Carter asked what he can do to achieve peace between the Palestinians and Israel ... and I told him the possibility for peace is high."

Shaer previously served as deputy prime minister and education minister in the Hamas-led Palestinian government, which was toppled last year. He served time in Israeli prison after being charged with terrorist activities.

According to Israeli security officials, Shaer functioned as a financial and communications link between cells of the Hamas organization in Gaza and in the northern West Bank city of Nablus.

In a WND exclusive interview earlier this week, Ahmed Yousuf, Hamas' top political adviser in the Gaza Strip, called Carter a "noble person" whose planned meeting with Hamas would help the terror organization "engage with the world community."

I would say that he is following suit after a number of the other democrats ... overstepping their bounds and consorting with the enemy.

Brother, I couldn't help but think that GOD might be using them to usher in the Tribulation Period. Who knows but GOD? MORE BY THE DAY, the time of the End Days of this Age of Grace appear to be drawing nearer. Regardless of who GOD uses, the Time will arrive at HIS Precise Time that ONLY GOD KNOWS.

Hamas claims secret meetings with EU, Italy, Norway
Terror group hopes Jimmy Carter visit will 'encourage' others to go public

Hamas previously held meetings with European Union parliament members and with delegations from France, Italy and Norway who expressed interest in supporting and possibly establishing relations with the terrorist organization, Fawzi Barhoum, Hamas' spokesman in Gaza, told WND in an interview.

Barhoum said he hoped former President Jimmy Carter's meetings this week with Hamas leaders would encourage European officials to make public their purported desire to support his group.

The EU has denied meeting Hamas and lists the group as a terrorist organization. Italy has expressed interest in talking to Hamas, and Norway, not an EU member, met leading Hamas officials. France also has denied meeting Hamas.

Barhoum told WND that prior to Carter's visit Hamas "met a delegation from the European Parliament, and they are supporting the Palestinian legitimate rights and Palestinian democracy; and they emphasized their full support for Hamas, because Hamas is the democratic choice for the Palestinians.

"There was a delegation from France, the government, and from Italy and Norway and from the EU parliament and from Carter," Barhoum said, speaking from Gaza. "All of these are supporting Hamas, and they have a plan to support Palestinian rights and interests."

The Hamas spokesman said there were "several meetings between Hamas and Europe, and they want finally to support Hamas."

Barhoum called Carter a "very important and serious person. We think (his) meeting with us will encourage others who are already sending messages to us."

Barhoum said "we in Hamas, all the time, want to meet more and more European officers, including France and Italy and Norway, in order to support Palestinian legitimate rights."

Barhoum would not name any of the EU officials he claimed met with Hamas.

The Italian government also denies its officials met with Hamas. But last August, Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi broke with EU official policy stating Hamas should be "helped so it works for peace."

"Hamas exists, and it is a very complex reality that we must help so it works for peace" Prodi told reporters, drawing fire from Italian Jewish groups.

Last July, Italy's Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema told the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera that Hamas is a "significant and substantial" part of the Palestinian people.

France's President Nicolas Sarkozy has stated he does not support Hamas' takeover of Gaza and has opposed talks with the terrorist group. But under the previous French administration, the country supported a Russian bid to initiate dialogue with Hamas officials.

It was previously reported Norway's deputy foreign minister, Raymond Johansan, last March met with Hamas leader Ismail Haniya, who was then prime minister of the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority, which was deposed last year.

A top source in Hamas said some of the meetings with European officials took place in the Gaza Strip and West Bank.

The source previously told WND he held meetings in a European country with British and French diplomats. He said the diplomats expressed an understanding with Hamas' stated policy of accepting a cease-fire with Israel for up to 10 years.

In 2006, the Maan news agency, an independent Palestinian news outlet based in Ramallah and Bethlehem, quoted Hamas sources stating the terror group held meetings with European officials and with elements associated with the U.S. Democratic Party.

A Hamas source speaking to WND this week said the Democrat elements referenced by Maan were associated with Carter and with other "Democrat personalities" he refused to name.

The 2006 Maan report also quoted a Hamas source stating his group held meetings in a European country with representatives from the British and French governments.

The U.S. and Israel have been trying to isolate Hamas, which is classified by the State Department as a terrorist group. It is responsible for scores of deadly suicide bombings, and thousands of shooting attacks and rocket firings against Israeli civilian population centers.

Infuriating Israeli leaders, Carter yesterday met in Cairo with Hamas' two most senior leaders in the Gaza Strip, Mahmoud al-Zahar and Saeed Seyam.

The two are identified by both Israeli and Palestinian security officials as the two most senior leaders of Hamas' so-called military wing, which carries out terrorist activities from the Gaza Strip, including rocket strikes, suicide bombings, border raids, kidnappings and shooting attacks.

Al-Zahar, the chief of Hamas in Gaza, is leader of Hamas' most radical wing and is widely regarded as chief of the terror group's "military wing." He served as the foreign minister in the Hamas-led Palestinian government, which was disbanded last year. Israeli officials say al-Zahar is more radical than Khaled Meshaal, Hamas' overall chief, who resides in Syria and is scheduled to meet with Carter later this week.

At a rally in March last year, al-Zahar told a crowd of thousands that Hamas' short-term goal is "to liberate Palestine. Our final goal, which will be achieved, is that Islam will enter every house and will spread all over the world."

Seyam, who served as Hamas' interior minister, oversees Hamas' so-called Executive Force, the group's main militia. Seyam was one of the main architects of Hamas' takeover of the Gaza Strip last June, when the terror group expelled the U.S.-backed Fatah organization, overtaking all Fatah security compounds and reportedly seizing American weapons.

According to Hamas' Barhoum, Carter first initiated a request to meet al-Zahar and Seyam.

Monday, while visiting the West Bank, Carter attended a reception with Hamas leader Nasser Shaer. The reception was closed to the media, but according to participants and the Hamas leader, Carter hugged Shaer and kissed him on each cheek, the customary greeting for good friends. Many U.S. diplomats refrain from kissing Palestinian officials.

"He gave me a hug. We hugged each other, and it was a warm reception," Shaer told the Associated Press. "Carter asked what he can do to achieve peace between the Palestinians and Israel ... and I told him the possibility for peace is high."

Shaer previously served as deputy prime minister and education minister in the Hamas-led Palestinian government, which was toppled last year. He served time in Israeli prison after being charged with terrorist activities.

According to Israeli security officials, Shaer functioned as a financial and communications link between cells of the Hamas organization in Gaza and in the northern West Bank city of Nablus.

In a WND exclusive interview earlier this week, Ahmed Yousuf, Hamas' top political adviser in the Gaza Strip, called Carter a "noble person" whose planned meeting with Hamas would help the terror organization "engage with the world community."

Tick, tock, tick, tock.............................

Senior Army strategist: Carter has violated two federal statutes in Hamas meeting

Pentagon advisor Bob Maginnis says former U.S. President Jimmy Carter is violating two federal laws in his meeting with a terrorist Hamas leader in Damascus, Syria.

Lt. Col. Maginnis (USA-Ret.) recently wrote a column in Human Events called "Hamas' Useful Idiot." The column's title refers to Jimmy Carter, who -- despite requests from the U.S. State Department not to do so -- is meeting with a Hamas leader.
 
Maginnis says there is a good reason why a rendezvous with this terrorist was not a good idea. The retired defense expert points out that Khaled Meshaal has aligned himself with Muqtada al-Sadr in Iraq, and that Meshaal "calls on Sadr and others to basically kill as many Americans as they can."
 
Maginnis also believes that Carter has violated several federal statutes in meeting with this terrorist leader. "The Logan Act, which is 200 years old, as well as the USA Patriot Act of 2001 ... is very clear that if you provide advice to a terrorist organization, you could actually earn life imprisonment," he details.
 
Carter's plan to showcase his opposition to the government, Maginnis continues, makes him just one among a number of prominent Democrats who have violated the law by meeting with the avowed enemies of the United States. The other Democrats he refers to include Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-California), actress Jane Fonda, and civil rights leader Jesse Jackson.

Breaking the law is illegal, then Carter need to have a trial by his peers. If Carter is proven guilty, then he needs to serve time in prison.

Jimmy Carter in Egypt: Gaza Arabs "Starved to Death" by Israel
 
by Hana Levi Julian

(IsraelNN.com) Former US President Jimmy Carter says Palestinian Authority Arabs living in Gaza are being “starved to death” by Israel.

Carter made the claim speaking with students at the American University in Cairo on Thursday, saying that Gaza Arabs are receiving fewer calories per day than people in the poorest regions of Africa.

“It’s an atrocity, what is being perpetrated as punishment on the people in Gaza,” said Carter. “It is a crime… I think it is an abomination that this continues to go on.”

The former president has not actually visited Gaza; Israel declined to authorize his use of the Israel-Gaza crossings and there were no indications he requested an entry from Egypt.

Carter neglected to mention that the region’s crossings with the rest of Israel have been closed since the Islamist Hamas terrorist organization seized total control of the area and began launching constant attacks on Israeli civilians. He also didn’t mention that the crossings are opened daily for the delivery of humanitarian aid, including truckloads of food, medical and other supplies into Gaza.

On Thursday, while Carter was denigrating Israeli treatment of Gaza residents, Hamas terrorists infiltrated through the Kerem Shalom Crossing and attacked an IDF post while trucks were passing through the crossing with essentials for Gaza.

The terrorists attacked the same area in which IDF Cpl. Gilad Shalit was kidnapped in June 2006. Two soldiers were murdered and another soldier was seriously injured during that attack as well. Shalit’s condition and whereabouts are unknown; his parents have been hoping that Carter will be able to find out information about their son, if not convince his Hamas captors to free him altogether.

Despite the opposition of the American government, Carter was to meet Friday in Damascus with Hamas politburo chief Khaled Mashaal, who is the apparent power behind Shalit’s kidnappers.

Carter met Thursday in Cairo with two senior Hamas officials from Gaza, Mahmoud al-Zahar and Said Seyam. The Israeli government refused to allow the former US president to meet in Gaza with the Hamas terrorists.

Jimmy Carter in Egypt: Gaza Arabs "Starved to Death" by Israel (http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/125929)
~~~~~~~~

Gaza is a part of palestine, not Israel. The palestinian authority needs to feed there own people, not Israeli feeding palestine.

Carter meeting with terrorist needs to have his passport taken away, and put in jail for TREASON!!

Brother, I agree with you 100%. In fact, I think it's far past time to enforce the law with ALL OF OUR POLITICIANS. Lots of politicians need to spend some time in jail or prison. Labels of offices held as representatives of the people IS NOT a LICENSE TO VIOLATE THE LAW.